Have you ever questioned the effectiveness of your WordPress forms? While you may receive a few submissions, it’s challenging to determine what strategies are successful without proper data.
We’ve encountered forms that appeared impressive but had low conversion rates, while others exceeded our expectations for reasons that were initially unclear.
This experience taught us the importance of tracking.
By utilizing Google Analytics for form tracking, you can pinpoint exactly where users abandon the process, identify which forms yield the highest conversions, and discover which traffic sources generate the most leads.
In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the process of setting up WordPress form tracking in Google Analytics, enabling you to leverage real data to enhance your conversion rates. 📈
The Importance of Tracking WordPress Forms with Google Analytics
Monitoring your WordPress forms in Google Analytics provides you with valuable insights into their performance and highlights areas for improvement.
Forms are essential components of any website, facilitating connections with your audience, gathering leads, increasing eCommerce sales, and driving business growth.
With tracking implemented, you can identify which forms achieve the best conversion rates and which require enhancements. You can also analyze the pages that visitors access before completing a form.
Form tracking offers deeper insights into your audience, including:
- The channels that generate the highest number of form submissions
- The effectiveness of your lead generation campaigns
- Referral websites that deliver valuable leads
- Points where users abandon your forms
With this information, you can categorize submissions by traffic source, demographics, or device type, allowing you to customize your marketing and content to better meet your audience’s needs.
In this guide, we will explain how to track WordPress forms using Google Analytics. Here’s a brief overview of the topics we will cover in this article:
- How to Set Up WordPress Form Tracking in Google Analytics
- Evaluate the Performance of Your WordPress Forms
- Bonus Tip: Monitor User Journey in WPForms
- Common Questions About Form Tracking
- Additional Useful Guides for WordPress Analytics
Are you ready? Let’s begin.
Step 1: How to Set Up WordPress Form Tracking in Google Analytics
The most effective way to set up WordPress form tracking in Google Analytics is by using MonsterInsights. It is the leading Google Analytics plugin for WordPress, utilized by over 3 million professionals to gain insights and leverage data for business growth, including our own website.
At CanadaCreate, we utilize MonsterInsights for various tracking purposes, including monitoring our form conversion rates. Explore our comprehensive review of MonsterInsights to discover its full capabilities.
In addition to form tracking, MonsterInsights simplifies the process of monitoring website traffic, identifying top referral sources, and analyzing your best-performing posts and pages.
Before we begin, please keep in mind that Google Analytics does not automatically track WordPress forms.You will need to modify the code to enable form tracking, which can be challenging for beginners, as even a small error can disrupt your tracking and potentially damage your website.
MonsterInsights eliminates the necessity of coding or hiring a developer, allowing you to set up Google Analytics and track WordPress forms without any code modifications.
Additionally, it seamlessly integrates with all major WordPress form plugins, such as WPForms, Formidable Forms, Contact Form 7, and others.
For this tutorial, we will be using MonsterInsights Pro because it offers the Forms addon, dashboard reports, and other advanced tracking features. There is also a free version of MonsterInsights, known as MonsterInsights Lite, that you can use to get started.
Begin by creating an account on MonsterInsights. Visit their website and click the ‘Get MonsterInsights Now’ button. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete your purchase.
Once you’ve registered on the MonsterInsights website, copy your license key and proceed to install the MonsterInsights plugin, which will be upgraded with your Pro license.
In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Plugins »Add Plugin and search for ‘MonsterInsights.’
In the search results, click the ‘Install Now’ button, then select ‘Activate’ when it appears. If you require assistance, refer to our guide on installing a WordPress plugin.
After activation, you will be directed to ‘Insights’ in your WordPress dashboard, where you will see the MonsterInsights welcome screen.
Click the ‘Launch the Wizard’ button to set up the plugin and link it to Google Analytics. During this process, you will find a field to enter your license key and activate your MonsterInsights Pro.
For comprehensive instructions, refer to our guide on installing Google Analytics in WordPress.
Once completed, go to the Insights » Addons page and click the ‘Install’ button for the Forms addon.
After installing the addon, the status should change from ‘Not Installed’ to ‘Active.’
MonsterInsights will automatically recognize your WordPress form plugin and begin tracking your forms in Google Analytics.
To review the settings, navigate to Insights » Settings in your admin dashboard and select the ‘Conversions’ tab.
You will notice that the ‘Form Conversion Tracking’ option is already turned on.
Are you ready to analyze the performance of your forms?
Step 2: Analyze the Performance of Your WordPress Forms
MonsterInsights simplifies the process of viewing Google Analytics data by displaying statistics directly within your WordPress dashboard, saving you time and allowing you to quickly access the information you need for decision-making.
To access the report, go to Insights » Reports in the admin area, then click on the ‘Forms’ tab.
In the report, you will find:
- Impressions – The total number of users who have viewed your form.
- Conversions – The total number of users who successfully completed the form.
- Conversion Rates – For each form on your website.
Now, let’s explore how to access your form tracking data directly in Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
Log into your Google Analytics account and select your website from the top menu.
Then, navigate to the left-hand menu and select Reports » Engagement » Events.
In the list of events that MonsterInsights tracks for you, look for those related to forms, such as:
- form_impression – which indicates when someone views a form.
- generate_lead – which indicates when a form is successfully submitted.
Keep in mind that these events will not appear in GA4 unless you have the MonsterInsights Forms addon installed. This plugin automatically tracks form impressions and submissions for you.
Here’s an example of what it might look like (we’ve checked the boxes for the form-related reports to make them easier to identify):
To explore your form submissions in more detail, you can click on the ‘generate_lead’ event.
This will provide a comprehensive report showing how often the event occurs, the total number of users, and the event count per active user. This is how you can verify that your form conversions are being accurately tracked in GA4.
✋Pro Tip: It may take 24 to 48 hours for new data to show up in your Google Analytics reports, so don’t be concerned if you don’t see your form submissions immediately!
In addition to Google Analytics, there is another method to analyze user interactions with your forms. Let’s explore this option.
Pro Tip: Monitor User Journey in WPForms
If you’re utilizing the WPForms plugin to create a contact form or any other type of form, you can track the actions of each user on your site.prior tosubmitting a form.
WPForms is the premier contact form plugin for WordPress. It features a User Journey addon that reveals the paths your visitors took before submitting a form. For instance, you can track the pages they visited or the opt-in campaigns they engaged with.
WPForms has been our preferred tool for building forms, including our contact form and annual user surveys. For an in-depth exploration of its features, check out our comprehensive WPForms review.
Before getting started, ensure you create your WPForms account first. Visit their website, click the ‘Get WPForms Now’ button, and complete your purchase.
💡Important Note:Please be aware that you will need the WPForms Pro version to access the User Journey addon. If you want to test its functionality, there is a free version of WPForms available.
Once that’s done, install and activate the WPForms plugin, which will be upgraded by the WPForms Pro version. Simply navigate toPlugins»Add New Pluginand look for WPForms.
In the search results, click the ‘Install Now’ button, then select ‘Activate’ when it appears.
For detailed instructions, please refer to our guide on installing a WordPress plugin.
Next, navigate to WPForms » Addonsin your WordPress admin dashboard.
Then, find the User Journey Addon and click the ‘Install Addon’ button.
Once the addon is successfully installed, go to WPForms » Entries.
Next, select a WordPress form to view the user journey.
For this tutorial, we will examine the entries of the Simple Contact Form.
Then, click the ‘View’ button under ‘Actions’ for any entry to see the user’s steps prior to submitting the form.
On the following screen, you’ll find details about your user.
Scroll down to the ‘User Journey’ section to view their path before completing and submitting the contact form.
With this information, you can gain insights into your users and identify which pages or campaigns they visit before converting into leads.
This approach allows you to promote your forms on the most viewed pages, enhancing the visibility of your marketing campaigns to generate more leads.
For more information, check out our comprehensive tutorial on tracking user journeys through WordPress lead forms.
👨💻Get WPForms Now: Featuring its robust User Journey Addon, you can gain insights into the specific pages and posts that visitors viewed on your site before submitting a form. Begin tracking user journeys to enhance your understanding of your audience!
Common Questions About Form Tracking
Why aren’t my form submissions appearing in Google Analytics?
This issue typically arises for several common reasons. First, ensure that the MonsterInsights Forms addon is installed and activated.
Next, verify that your Google Analytics account is correctly linked in the MonsterInsights settings. If you are using a caching plugin, clear your site’s cache, as tracking may be delayed due to caching.
Can I track forms without a plugin?
Yes, it is possible. You can manually set up form tracking using custom event-tracking code, often implemented with JavaScript or Google Tag Manager.
However, this approach can be quite technical and may not be suitable for beginners. A minor error in the code could disrupt your tracking. Therefore, we recommend using a plugin for automatic handling.
Will tracking WordPress forms impact my website’s performance?
No, using a performance-optimized plugin like MonsterInsights ensures that tracking scripts load asynchronously, allowing them to run in the background without affecting your page load speed.
What is the difference between a form ‘impression’ and a ‘conversion’?
A form impression occurs when someone views your form, while a conversion is counted only when the form is submitted.
Analyzing both metrics allows you to calculate your form’s conversion rate, helping you understand how effectively your form encourages visitors to take action.
Additional Resources for WordPress Analytics
We hope this article has guided you in setting up WordPress form tracking in Google Analytics.
You can also explore our guides on:
- A/B Split Testing in WordPress: A Comprehensive Guide
- Setting Up WordPress Heatmaps: Simple Methods
- Key Metrics to Monitor on Your WordPress Site
- How to Exclude Personally Identifiable Information from Google Analytics
- Top Data Visualization Plugins for WordPress
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